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Please find below the Captain's match reports for 3rd to 8th July. Due to being in an exciting County Final there are no reports of the Wednesday games.
East of Exe Match Report – 3rd July 2023
TBBC (Home) v Cullompton (4 x Mixed Rinks)
Weather: A mixture of cloudiness and occasional sunny bits, accompanied by strong gusty winds – even causing the ‘Pushers’ to make a sudden run for it at one point!
Green: Looking greener, played well on the whole, a bit quicker than it looked.
Tiverton Borough welcomed the men and ladies in green from Cullompton for their latest E of E league match not knowing quite what to expect in terms of their strength, other than the fact they were one place above Borough in the current league positions, as the clubs had not played each other since 2019.
First up, Rink 2 had John Gutteridge skip with Ray (lead), Tony and Kay and were up against Cullompton Captain Brian Clements. Both sides generally had difficulty, especially finding the weight but it was Borough who managed to prosper most to go into a 9 – 2 lead after eight ends. After a difficult start for Brian, he began to look more of a threat and this culminated in a run of four ends without reply that included a ‘5’ for his side which helped them take a somewhat unexpected lead (from John’s point of view) from being 11 – 3 down to go 11 – 12 ahead! Those proverbial wheels had wobbled and fallen off once again for Borough. Thankfully, this time though, they managed to put the wheels back on sufficiently enough to steady themselves to retake the lead with a ‘3’. The last end was a rather nervy one, at 16 – 13, Borough were holding with a bowl or 3 but Brian came in for shot, about 2 or 3 inches in front of the Jack, he needed ‘3’ to at least draw so went for power down the middle knowing he had woods at the back or perhaps he looked to kill the end? He was pretty close but somehow went straight past and through. 1 shot it was to Cullompton but the game went to Borough, 16 – 14.
Rink 3 has Kevin Parkin standing in as skip in place Brenda this week, along with Maggie (lead), Tony C and Chris. They began very positively, going 8 – 3 up after six ends but then went off the radar whilst their opponents made hay, peaking with a ‘5’ on the ninth. By the tenth end, Cullompton must have been feeling rather confident as they now led, 8 – 13. However, their newly found confidence will have been short lived as Kevin Parkin’s side picked up a ‘6’ on the eleventh which set them on a mini run to put them back on top and odds-on favourites, 22 – 13 after fourteen ends. The final ends were much tighter affairs with Borough (again) effectively demonstrating the art of restricting the opposition to 1’s to get themselves over the line, still in front, 22 – 17.
Phil Saunders, on rink 4, had Nigel in as lead this week partly, we suspect, based on his good form as lead in the Borough’s Senior Fours recent successful endeavours. Di was two and Annie in at three. This selection certainly brought dividends as they also started strongly to gain an 8 – 1 lead after five ends. However, their opponents came back well to close the gap to 9 – 6 but it was not to last as Phil saw his side retake control, limiting Cullompton to just two more singles whilst more than doubling their own shot count to finish comfortably, 22 – 8.
Finally, Peter Chidgey was back, up against his previous club too, with Lesley, Kevin F and Lloyd for company. Despite dropping a ‘2’ on the first, this Borough side also looked to be dominating their match and having taken a ‘5’ on the second they moved steadily to a 10 – 4 lead after eight ends played. The next four or five ends were evenly split but Peter ensured his side finished the strongest, winning the last four ends for a comprehensive win, 21 – 9.
Wow! A tremendous result for Tiverton Borough building well on top of other recent successes. The result will put them above Cullompton in the league so things are definitely looking up!
TBBC = 4 Winning Rinks (81 Shots) 12 Points
Cullompton = 0 Winning Rinks (48 Shots) 0 Points
Friendly Match Report – 6th July 2023
TBBC (Away) v South Molton (5 Mixed Triples)
Weather: A bit cloudy and breezy to begin becoming sunnier and pleasantly warm.
Green: Very good, reasonably fast and consistent.
Tiverton Borough pitched up in good spirits for this latest outing and were warmly welcomed by the very affable Graham Fairlie of South Molton. Their side were short of ladies due to their other bowling commitments on the day which meant South Molton had a few more newer players amongst their numbers.
First up, saw a pretty strong Brenda Tucker side with Margaret (Lead) and Kevin F, appearing to be up against it early on as they found themselves 2 – 11 down after seven ends. Thankfully a good ‘4’ then brought them back into the picture but only briefly as her opposition immediately reasserted their dominance. Brenda fought hard to gain some reward but alas it wasn’t enough, consigning them to a valiant second place, 11 – 22.
Rink 2 had a rare sighting of Alan Gale leading for Lloyd with Annie at two and it was evident from the start that they were working well as a team. Alan, despite his lack of match practice, was having an excellent match to give Lloyd a decent foundation which put them in the ascendancy right from the start. After six ends Borough were 7 – 1 to the good and looking good. However, their opposition started to come more into the attack and built up a bit of momentum that led them to securing first, a ‘5’ swiftly followed by a ‘6’. Needless to say, this changed the whole complexion of the match with the home team sitting pretty, 9 – 15 ahead after ten ends. But it was nowhere near over, and Borough regained some momentum for themselves and four ends later they were level, 16 – 16 so it was game on! South Molton took the next two very close ends to edge 16 – 18 ahead, then on the penultimate end, Borough picked up ‘2’, all square again, 18 – 18. It was anyone’s guess who would get over the line first, Borough were looking very much the favourites as they were holding but at the last knockings, a South Molton bowl that sat for a close second, got the slightest of touches from a passing wood, just enough to give them the shot and with it, a very close, 18 – 19 win.
Rink 3 had Rod Snell (Lead), Lesley Finan and John Gutteridge up against a Graham Fairlie trio. It was John’s side who settled well over the first few ends to take an early 5 – 1 lead but Graham’s side started to come into it and drew level after eight ends when they stopped for Tea. The second half was indeed, a different cup of tea as Borough were able to get into their stride to move into a 12 – 5 lead after twelve ends. The next end saw some excellent bowling from the players, one of those very tightly fought heads that swung to and fro seemingly with each bowl that came in but, in the end, it was South Molton who secured it with just a single. Then, after the home side added another ’2’, Borough managed to mop up the remaining three ends, one of which included a ‘5’ helping them on their way to finish comfortably ahead, 20 – 8.
On Rink 4, we had Phil Saunders side of Kevin Lower (Lead) and Di Parkin, versus a South Molton side which included Nathan Slee at two and it soon became clear the two younger protagonists were going to have a bit of fun, trying hard to outdo each other. South Molton looked to be the stronger first off but Phil’s side whittled away and got level, 6 – 6 after ten low scoring ends. South Molton set off again after tea but a run of four singles put Borough ahead for the first time in the match, 10 – 9 only to be level, 10-10, on the next. With the one end to go, yet another close contest ensued, nearing the end, Phil was holding just next to the Jack and sent his last wood down thinking he would just come up short only he didn’t, instead he sent it down with an almost identical weight to his holding wood, tapping the shot bowl which in turn tapped the Jack over to the opposition. Nathan was in fits of laughter and glee, Phil couldn’t’ believe it but yes, he’d unwittingly given the shot away and the match. 10 – 11. Good job it was only a friendly Phil!
Finally, we had Kevin Parkin skipping with Carol Lower back in full flow at lead and the hardworking Kay Leach at two. They worked quietly and diligently away (compared to their neighbours) to forge a 5 – 2 lead after five ends and continued their solid progress for 10 – 2 at the half time break. The second half saw a much-needed resurgence from Steve Johnson’s South Molton side that closed the gap to just ‘4’ at 12 – 8 after fourteen ends. Kevin & Co, following an apparent period of post tea apathy, suddenly sprung back into gear and secured three of the last four ends, finishing comfortably ahead, 19 – 10.
This was a very enjoyable afternoon with some good bowling on a good green and great company. Who could ask for more? Even the result was deemed a win for both, depending on how you looked at it.
TBBC = 2 Winning Rinks (78 Shots)
South Molton = 3 Winning Rinks (70 Shots)
Friendly Match Report/Update – 8th July 2023
TBBC (Away) v Uffculme (4 Mixed Triples)
Tiverton Borough visited Uffculme for their third meeting within two weeks, this time the return friendly.
Phil Saunders very much enjoyed his afternoon and saw his side of Oliver/Colin Kane (Leads) and Annie Daniels, have a fairly dominant performance, especially over the first eight ends that saw them 10 – 2 to the good. Uffculme subsequently got themselves back in the game, winning three ends on the trot but Borough finished strongly to complete a 16 – 10 win.
Lloyd Daniels with his old side kick, Tony C and Carol at lead, had an even more impressive performance after some initial close ends where honours were fairly even, a ‘4’ on the eighth put them on course to secure the next five ends and a 16 shot lead, 19 – 3. Uffculme managed to stop the tide briefly with a ‘2’ but ruthless Borough then continued their dominance taking the last four ends to complete a bit of a rout, 27 – 5.
Brenda Tucker and her side, Di and Pete T, had a slightly less profitable time of it, up against a strong Uffculme trio, they struggled to contain them as they romped away into a 2 – 17 lead. The second half was much more encouraging for Brenda, securing five ends but they were restricted to singles on each, leaving Uffculme to come away with the win, 7 - 23.
Finally, we have Chris Hutter with Margaret G and Bill Holmes (Lead) and they settled very well to take a 6 – 2 lead after six ends. Uffculme then gained a ‘3’ but a mini run for Chris ended with a ‘5’ on the tenth putting them 14 – 5 in front. Uffculme dug deep and began to have more success but Chris’s side did enough to keep them from gaining too many shots from the six ends they did win and added a couple on the last to complete another Borough win, 19 – 13.
Well done Borough on another positive result, yes only a friendly but getting that winning feeling doesn’t hurt in any capacity, as long as it’s all in the right spirit.
TBBC = 3 Winning Rinks (69 Shots)
Uffculme = 1 Winning Rink (51 Shots)